War Bears
|rarity = Common |casting_cost = |upkeep_cost = per turn |research_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Forester }} War Bears are a type of Fantastic Unit featured in Master of Magic. They belong to the Realm, and may be summoned using a Summoning Spell of the same name. War Bears are a basic Melee combat unit, roughly equivalent to high-quality Normal Units. Their primary advantage is their cheap Casting Cost and Upkeep Cost, though they make good scouts for Forest terrain and can lead other units quickly through such. The Fantastic Unit Physical Description War Bears are larger cousins of the Brown Bear, though they seem to have been bred or at least trained for combat. They can be seen wearing a collar, probably placed on them by a tamer. With massive claws and muscular, heavy bodies, they can bash and rip their enemies to shreds. The War Bears unit is a , containing up to 2 of these creatures. Attack Properties In Melee combat, a unit of War Bears is roughly as strong as a high-tier Normal Unit. They strike with per bear, which gives them a rather average damage output of about per bear - enough to kill one or two low/mid-level enemy Normal Unit if they fail to Defend properly. The War Bears' attack has no additional powers. Defensive Properties War Bears are neither heavily-armored nor exceptionally agile, resulting in a Defense score of . This means that on average, they will only block each time they are attacked. Nonetheless, the War Bears possess a relatively high Hit Point count of per figure, and thus can survive prolonged combat against weaker units. However, since the unit only contains two bears, it can be destroyed quite easily by any stronger enemy unit. Other Properties War Bears' Resistance is slightly higher than that of normal troops, standing at . While above-average, this will not protect them from any serious Unit Curses or combat maledictions, though it may avert the odd Poisoning or other mild Special Attacks. Basic Tactics For its low Casting Cost, this unit can perform admirably in combat against most non-upgraded Normal Units from the Arcanian Races, and can take on small groups of low-tier Normal Units. More importantly though, War Bears make excellent scouts for the the early game. This is thanks to their and the Forester ability, which allows them to move through Forests spending only one movement point per tile. They can also lead a stack of other units through Forest terrain at the same movement rate, which means they are essential for early-game expansion. Enemy War Bears War Bears appear quite often as neutral monsters, mostly in low-level Encounter Zones. They are often accompanied by Sprites. In this capacity they may prove quite challenging to early-game armies. Later on though, like most units of their cost and tier, War Bears will not stand a chance against upgraded or highly-experienced Normal Units, well-equipped Heroes or other Fantastic Units. Ability Overview Forester * This unit may move through any Forest tile at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * When this unit is stacked with other units, the entire stack may move through Forest tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. The Summoning Spell Usage War Bears may only be cast overland, for the base Casting Cost of . Upon successfully casting the spell, the new War Bears unit will appear in the Town currently containing the Wizard's Summoning Circle, with full Movement Allowance, and may move and/or attack immediately as necessary. To keep the War Bears in play, its controller is required to pay an Upkeep Cost of per turn. This is drawn automatically from the caster's pool at the beginning of each turn while the unit exists. Failure to pay this Upkeep due to lack of will lead to the War Bears immediately disappearing, along with any Unit Enchantments currently affecting it. However, this upkeep is for the unit, not for the spell: Summoning Spells can not be dispelled by the enemy once cast. Naturally though, if the unit is destroyed, then it is gone from the world entirely, and there is no further need to pay its Upkeep Cost. Units summoned on the overland map may also be dismissed manually from their unit statistics window the same way as any other overland unit (during their controller's turn, while not in combat). Acquisition As a Common Spell of the Realm, War Bears may become available to any Wizard who acquires at least Spellbook. With none, the spell can naturally not be learned during the campaign. This is the minimum requirement for it to be traded for, appear in Treasure, or be found in the spoils of victory when conquering the Fortress of a rival Wizard who already knows it. The base chance for War Bears to be researchable (at some point) in the campaign is roughly 30% (with book), which gradually increases with the amount of Spellbooks possessed or found during gameplay. With or more, the spell is certain to show up sooner or later, unless acquired from another source. It has a Research Cost of , although its research is quicker for Wizards possessing the Sage Master, Conjurer, and/or Nature Mastery Retorts; or a bookshelf containing or more. War Bears may also be selected as a starting spell by any Wizard with at least books. In this case, it will be available for casting as soon as the game begins. Category:Units Category:Fantastic Creatures Category:Nature